LCHS rolls by San Jac

Friday

AMARILLO - San Jacinto Christian Academy got to play a district game for the first time in four years, and for two quarters that was about the only good news for the Patriots on Thursday night.

San Jacinto (0-5, 0-1 in TAPPS Division III-I) salvaged some dignity with a third-quarter touchdown to avoid a shutout, but that wasn't enough to overcome a rough first half.

The Patriots committed six fumbles and lost four of them as they had minus-22 yards of offense in the first half. Of San Jacinto's 58 plays, 19 went for losses, including some botched long snaps from scrimmage and on two punts.

"We shoot ourselves in the foot constantly and we're trying to figure out how we try to keep from doing that," San Jacinto coach Shane Wallace said. "We're our won worst enemy."

Lubbock Christian (3-2, 1-0) set the tone by taking the opening kickoff and going 56 yards for a touchdown as the drive concluded with Will Stephens hitting Drew Thornton for a 12-yard touchdown pass. Stephens figured in all of his team's touchdowns, throwing four touchdowns and running for the other two, as he ran for a game-high 166 yards on 12 carries.

The Eagles took a 33-0 halftime lead as three of their touchdowns were set up by either San Jacinto turnovers or fourth-down miscues. Stephens ended the Eagles' scoring by sprinting 57 yards for a touchdown midway through the third quarter to give Lubbock Christian a 40-0 lead.

Four plays after that, the Patriots finally got on the board. Michael Aguilar broke loose for a 66-yard gain to set up a 2-yard touchdown run by Parker Owens. Aaron Vallance hit Colton Chancler on a two-point conversion to make it 40-8 and conclude the scoring.

"We are mighty young and we're growing with every play and that's what we're going to continue to do," Wallace said. "As we're moving forward we couldn't expect to come out of the gate roaring this evening."

Aguilar finished with 78 yards on 18 carries. But it's a mark of how many times the Patriots experienced plays for negative yardage that they finished with only 37 yards of total offense.

San Jacinto will have nine days between games, as they return to district play a week from Saturday by traveling to Fort Worth Calvary.